Casket-lowering device



No. 6|4,763. Patented Nov. 22, |898. M. T. ROBB A. J. PATTERSON.

GASKET LUWEBING DEVICE.

(Application led Mar. 19, 1898.) (N o M o d e Vl B WITNESSES s Uivrrnn Sintes FA'rnNr Enrich.

MARQUIS T. vROBB, OF GRANBY, AND ANDRE\V J. PATTERSON, OF

I VENTWORTH, MISSOURI.

CAS KET- LOWE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,763, dated November 22, 1898.

Application filed March 19,1898.

T0 @ZZ 17071/0772, t may concern,.-

Bc it known that we, MARQUIs T. Ross, of Granby, and ANDREW J. PATTERSON, of \Ventworth, in the county of Newton, State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Casket-Lowering Device, of which the following is a full, clear, andlexact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a device in which will be combined a railing for an open grave and a bier adjustable on the railing, together with a windlass carried by the railing or frame, through the medium of whicha coffin may be conveniently and safely lowered into a grave, the frame serving as a support for persons at the grave and likewise rendering the operation of the windlass safe.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the bier that it may be made to receive any size of coffin and to so construct the entire device that when the bier is placed in position in the frame or railing the device in its entirety may be conveniently wheeled from place to place.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved device, the bier being drawn out as far as possible from the frame or railing and the coffin being illustrated in dotted lines as suspended from the windlass. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device as shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section lhrough the device, taken at a point where the guides for the bier engage with the railing or frame.

The frame or railing consists of four cornerposts or uprights 10, two at the front and two at the back, thc said corner-pieces being arranged to support upper end and side pieces 12,constitu ting the upper section of the frame, and intermediate end and side pieces 13, constituting the lower section of the frame, the frame-sections 12 and 13 being preferably given a rectangular shape, as shown in Fig. 2. The forward corner-posts 10 are provided serai No. 674,455. (No man.)

with wheels 14T, whereby when the rear por'- tion of the frame or railing is tilted upward the frame or railing may be conveniently rolled to any desired spot after the manner of a wheelbarrow.

A windlass is mounted on the upper portion of the frame or railing, the said windlass consisting of a shaft 15, provided with attached peripherallygrooved pulleys 1G, to which grooved pulleys 16 straps 17 or their equivalents are secured. At the rear end of the windlass-shaft 15 a crank-handle 1S is secured, and the said shaft is mounted to turn in bearings 19, located at the front and rear portions of the said frame or railing. The windlass-shaft 15 is further provided with a ratchet-wheel 20, which is engaged by a pawl 21, the pawl being pivoted on the frame or railing at its upper rear portion, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The bier A consists of a rectangular skeleton body of such dimensions that it may be slid over the lower or intermediate section 13 of the main frame or railing. The body A of the bier, the framing whereof is designated as 22, is supported at its rear end by suitable legs 23 and at the rear is provided with handles 24 of any suitable description. A rear cross-bar 25 is provided for the framing of the bier, and intermediate cross-bars 26 are adjustably located on the side pieces of the body of the bier, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A hanger 27 is attached to each side of the body of the bier at its front portion, and in each hanger a pulley 2S is mounted to turn, being adapted to travel upon the side pieces of the intermediate portion 1S of the main frame or railing, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. When the bier has been carried into the frame or railing as far as possible, the legs 23 of the bier will be quite close to the rear legs or corner-posts l1 of the railing or mainframe, and

the bier will be held in this position through the medium of one or more hooks 29 or their equivalents, which are located on the rear cross-bar of the intermediate section 13 of the frame or railing, being adapted to also engage with the rear cross-bar 25 of the bier.

It is evident that the frame or railing may be placed around the grave and will constitute a support for the mourners and will serve to prevent `the possibility of any one stumblin g at the grave. The casket is placed upon the bier and the bier is carried to its position within the railing or main frame. The straps 17 will then be passed around the casket, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and the bier is carried rearward from beneath the casket, as shown in positive lines in Figs. l and 2, permitting a person through the medium of the windlass to lower the casket safely into the grave. The casket may be held at any desired point between the upper portion of the main frame and its final resting-place through the medium of the ratchet and pawl 20 and 2l.

The device is preferably made of metal. It is exceedingly simple, is economic in its construction, and a single device is capable of service on many occasions.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 4 1. A casket-lowering device, comprising an elongated framework or railing having a rectangular rame at the top with a longitudinally-arranged windlass mounted thereon, longitudinal guide-rails on the sides arranged at a point between the top and bottom parts of the framework, and a bier having one of its ends connected to and mounted upon the 3o guide-rails of the main frame by means of friction-rollers, and the other end provided with vertical legs and horizontally-extended handles, substantially as shown and described.

2. A casket-lowering device, comprising an elongated framework or railing having a rectangular frame at the top with a longitudinally-arranged windlass mounted thereon, longitudinal guide-rails on the sides arranged at a point between the top and bottom parts of the framework, a bier having one of its ends connected to and mounted upon the guide-rails of the main frame by means of friction-rollers, and the other end provided with vertical legs and horizontally-extended handles, and wheels or rollers arranged at the lower ends of the supporting-legs of the main frame most remote from the bier, whereby, when the bier is pushed in, the apparatus may be tilted and transported like a wheelbarrow, substantially as shown and described.

MARQUIS T. ROBB. ANDREW J. PATTERSON. lVitncsses:

W. L. BURGER, F. A. DALMKE. 

